There were many opportunities for this story to go wrong, but director Icíar Bollaín deftly handles abuse with a finesse that makes the multi-layered story feel real and compelling.

| Jan 20, 2022

Domestic abuse has been portrayed on film before but never with this much complexity.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jun 14, 2008

Every element of the production is well-crafted. Take My Eyes is highly recommended.

| Mar 1, 2007

A mesmerizing and deeply disturbing film from Spain.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 12, 2006

Approaching potentially unpleasant subject matter with humor, intelligence and deep compassion for its flawed yet infinitely human characters, Take My Eyes is almost certain to rank as one of the year's best films.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 21, 2006

Actors Laia Marull and Luis Tosar explore the intricate details of a relationship based on the laws of attraction and repulsion, in which the intellect is repeatedly devastated by primal passion.

| Original Score: A | Apr 20, 2006

An extraordinarily truthful and piercing drama about spousal abuse.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 20, 2006

What makes the movie fascinating is that it doesn't settle for a soap opera resolution to this story, with Pilar as the victim, Antonio as the villain, and evil vanquished. It digs deeper and more painfully.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 20, 2006

Though deceptively straightforward in its exploration of the causes and effects of domestic abuse, Take My Eyes benefits from the grubby verisimilitude Bollan brings to his material, which otherwise might have lapsed into movie-of-the-week superficiality

| Original Score: B | Apr 20, 2006

This tale of domestic abuse breaks little new stylistic or psychological ground, but it is a searing, well-acted drama that should strike universal chords.

Full Review | Apr 6, 2006

The performances from Marull and Tosar ... are superbly nuanced, carefully tweaking your emotions until they ensure that Take My Eyes is one of the most moving films you'll see this year.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 1, 2006

This small, somber drama says things to battered women they probably already know. What it says to their abusers -- of any country or culture -- they can't afford to ignore.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 31, 2006

We emerge worn but wiser, having stepped, if only momentarily, and secondarily, into the shoes of the brutalized.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 23, 2006

Harrowing, psychologically astute drama about domestic abuse.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 17, 2006

The story isn't exactly new, but Bollain, an actress in her own right, keeps Take My Eyes from sinking into clichs.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 17, 2006

These kinds of films are hard to keep out of your mind.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 16, 2006

The film won a sack of Goya Awards in 2004.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 16, 2006

Handles the subject of domestic violence with intelligence and compassion.

| Mar 16, 2006

The performers are luminous.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 16, 2006

If Take My Eyes explored how a woman could still feel for a man who abused her, it might have gripped us with its difficult truths.

| Original Score: C | Mar 15, 2006